1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a conveying and raising apparatus, and more particularly, to a conveying and raising apparatus capable of raising an object and bypassing another object.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A flat display panel, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel or a plasma display panel, is made of a glass substrate panel. In the manufacturing process, an automatic transport device is utilized to transport the panels in order to improve efficiency. Sometimes, for purpose of inspecting or repairing a panel, the automatic transport device needs to raise the panel for facilitating a robot arm or an operator to carry the panel.
Please refer to FIG. 1 through FIG. 3, FIG. 1 shows a conveying and raising apparatus 100 of the prior art, FIG. 2 shows the conveying and raising apparatus 100 of FIG. 1 before raising a panel 10, and FIG. 3 shows a plurality of pins 122 of the conveying and raising apparatus 100 of FIG. 1 raising the panel 10. As shown in the figures, the conveying and raising apparatus 100 comprises a conveying mechanism 110 and a raising mechanism 120. The conveying mechanism 110 comprises a plurality of rollers 112 and a motor 114. The conveying mechanism 110 further comprises a plurality of wheels 116 installed on the roller 112. When the motor 114 rotates the plurality of rollers 112, the wheels 116, which contact with the panel 10, move the panel 10 forward. The raising mechanism 120 comprises a plurality of supporting ribs 124, a plurality of pins 122, and an actuator 126. The supporting ribs 124 and the rollers 112 are interlaced. The pins 122 are fixed on the supporting ribs 124. The actuator 126 comprises a base plate 1261 and a plurality of racks 1262. Each of the racks 1262 has one end installed on the base plate 1261 and another end fixed on the supporting ribs 124. Each of the racks 1262 separates the base plate 1261 from the supporting ribs 124. The actuator 126 is typically not a hydraulic-cylinder actuator but an air-cylinder actuator in order to reduce dust contamination. Before sending the panel 10 to the inspection station, the raising mechanism 120 needs to raise the panel 10 to facilitate a robot arm to carry the panel 10. Therefore, the actuator 126 pushes up the supporting ribs 124 to raise the panel 10 above the plurality of pins 122 (the panel 10 staying on the wheels 116) to a specific height.
Before raising the panel 10, the plurality of pins 122 are lower than the rollers 112. Therefore, the panel 10 can be moved forward. However, when the plurality of pins 122 are pushed up higher than the rollers 112, the plurality of pins 122 will block the route for conveying the panels. Therefore, when the panel 10 is raised to the specific height, the conveying mechanism 110 cannot convey other panels. If panel inspection is too frequent or too slow, the other panels, which are behind the inspected panel, will stop moving forward on the line. Moreover, for time-related processes, the above situation can affect product quality due to panels staying in some process too long.